POCHAYEV, TERNOPIL REGION, UKRAINE. (RIA Novosti, Andrei Zolotov) - The bells at the majestic Pochayev Monastery in Western Ukraine rang a farewell to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia as he set out on the way to Moscow after an unprecedented ten-day pastoral visit to the cradle of Russian Orthodoxy which today, like centuries ago, finds itself separated from the Northern Rus by state and cultural boundaries.
Left behind were thousands of kilometers traveled by plane and car, fourteen stops of varying duration at cities and monasteries, a dozen services, meetings and a joint prayer with tens of thousands of believers, inspired sermons, an hour-and-a-half interview on the main Ukrainian TV channel that broke all ratings, tears in the eyes of clergy and laity meeting their primate, the shouts of a small but vocal group of protesters. Ahead lies the unwrapping and discussion of the consequences of the visit both for Ukraine and for the whole Russian Orthodox Church.
"I am leaving this blessed land and I am leaving part of my heart here... because I see myself as a successor to the metropolitans of Kiev and All Rus who were the custodians of their people's faith in times of hardship," the Patriarch said in one of his last speeches in Pochayev where he prayed together with tens of thousands of pilgrims for unity inside Ukraine and for the unity of all the peoples of the historical "Holy Rus."
The idea of the "Holy Rus," or "the great Eastern-Slavic civilization" as a spiritual and historical, rather than a political, entity capable of saying something important to today's secularized world without forfeiting the link between the earthly and the divine, served as the leitmotif throughout all of the Patriarch's speeches. It was in essence during his Ukrainian visit that the Patriarch positioned himself most clearly as a supranational spiritual leader - not as "the Russian Patriarch," but as the head of the Patriarchate whose spiritual power has straddled many state borders.
In his last sermon at the Pochayev Lavra, Patriarch Kirill addressed first Ukraine, then the countries of "Holy Rus" including Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, and then the political map of Europe, warning of the danger of building a life without God similarly to what the Soviet Union had attempted.
"Undoubtedly, this was a pastoral visit and a pilgrimage, but it was also a worldview visit," Vladimir Legoyda, the head of the Moscow Patriarchate's information department, told RIA Novosti.
His Ukrainian counterpart, the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church information and educational department, Archpriest Georgy Kovalenko, notes the missionary character of the visit. "We see Patriarch Kirill as a 21st century missionary," he said.
The pointedly supranational view of the Church declaring respect for the states and cultural features of all lands represents a shift of emphasis in the policy of the Moscow Patriarchate, a shift connected with the personality of the new Patriarch. In effect, he opposes both the identification of Orthodoxy with the "Russian faith" and the fostering of Russian patriotism so widespread in Russia, as well as the "independent church to an independent state" principle voiced by Ukrainian autocephalists. It was not by chance that during his visit the Patriarch spoke about obtaining Ukrainian citizenship along with the Russian one, about the place of the Moscow Patriarchal Throne in the so-called "Pentarchy," the ancient system of universal church governance by five patriarchates.
"Here in Ukraine, as soon as they hear a universalist programme, the non-church circles prick up their ears," says Vladimir Burega, a historian at the Kiev Theological Academy, "because they see the danger of the leveling of local features, restriction of sovereignty and so on."
As for the divided Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Patriarchal visit has revealed some new developments. The trip undoubtedly consolidated the congregation of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine and caused rumblings among those who define Ukrainian identity mainly as the opposite of Moscow, both in and outside the Church. However, it is important to note that although the Patriarch did not come up with any new proposals on ways to heal the Ukrainian schism, he blessed both his adherents and his opponents wherever he went, stressing that his word is addressed both to those "who kiss the motherly hands of the Church and those who are prepared to twist its arms." With this, the Patriarch was continually making a plea for love, stressing that the latter is the only thing that can heal the wound of the schism. In addition, none of his speeches contained any polemics with the schismatics.
The Patriarch repeatedly said that it was important for him to see his Ukrainian brethren and to pray together with them. "I felt your ardent prayer," he said.
The visit, a kind of "contact reconnaissance," was a success. One can easily recall the trip to Rovno which was first canceled at the behest of the Ukrainian authorities, but eventually went ahead and developed into a dramatic demonstration of the Patriarch's support for his "catacombs" in Ukraine and his claim to being the Patriarch of all the Ukrainian Orthodox believers, both those who greeted him with the singing of anthems and those who shouted "Down with the Moscow priest." Will the Patriarch ever forget the tears in the eyes of those who had been subjected to veritable persecution in the 1990s and who sang uninterrupted chants to him in Lutsk?
One can imagine that the visit will prompt the Moscow Patriarchate to work out a new approach in the negotiations with the breakaway Ukrainian brothers and to the future status of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which enjoys broad autonomy within the Moscow Patriarchate.
For 18 years, the situation in Ukraine, while remaining a smarting wound on the body of Russian Orthodoxy, was marginal to the interests of the church "center." It was the problem of religious Kiev, but not of religious Moscow. Patriarch Kirill's ten-day visit has shown that this period has come to an end. The Moscow Patriarch is emerging as an important factor in Ukraine's church affairs, something that the opponents of the Moscow Patriarchate in this country and its public and indeed the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate will have to come to terms with.
"We expect careful and well-considered actions on the part of the Moscow Patriarchate, says Archpriest Georgy Kovalenko, "after all, a way was found to unite with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. So, given good will and commitment, we can do the same."
